“Postmodern media blur the boundary between reality and representation.” Discuss this idea with reference to media texts that you have studied.

“Postmodern media blur the boundary between reality and representation.” Discuss this idea with reference to media texts that you have studied.

Postmodern media is the idea that anything can interpreted and valued equally; nothing can be judged as negative since anything can be art. It is a rejection of Modernism which focuses on moving forward and hiding references to the past in its media products.

Ted is an example of how boundaries between reality and representation are transgressed. The film's protagonist Ted is an animated children's toy living in the 'real' world. His soaring popularity lead to him appearing on the Jimmy Kimmel Show Live, which is postmodern because the live aspect means that the audience were merely cheering a voice over when it was being filmed and Ted was edited in afterwards for the purposes of Television. Ted then went on to appear at the Oscars and present an award, this is blurring the boundary between reality and representation as a fictional character is presenting an acting award, again the audience would have been cheering a voice over. These appearances link to Baudrillard's concept of hyper-reality and how things that should seem abnormal, like a non-existent talking teddy bear walking around, are considered completely normal and nobody questions it.

'Scott Pilgrim Vs The World' is another postmodern media text that looks at the blurring of boundaries between reality and representation.  In the film there is 'narrastive truth' as comic, computer games and TV are all treated equally; thereby leading to the concept of pluralism. The low culture genres such as comic books and sitcom are being treated with the same reverence as high culture genres such as philosophy and time and space. Blurring these elements together create a diegetic world as when Scott fights the exes, he gets points and power-ups that appear on screen, replicating that of a video-game. Levi Strauss' theory of substitution can be applied here because realistic life situations are being replaced with exaggerated comic book ones; making the fictional elements of Scott's life indistinguishable from the non-fictional.

However, one could look at the online computer game 'Desert Bus' and argue that postmodern media does not blur the boundary between reality and representation. This game mimics real time rather than attempt to distort it and in doing so, creates a realistic  simulation of the 'real' world. However, Jameson's argument that postmodernism is depthless could be applied to this game because it has no purpose; there are no goals to strive for and although the game provides a temporary means of escape, it does not provide any advancement in the real world.

 

The Nikon camera advert could be argued to blur the boundaries between reality and representation because it sells people a life style that doesn't exist. The company comment that they aim to 'remind' their audience that they are 'at the heart of the image' yet the question remains, how can people be reminded of experiences they've never had. This advert is conforming to Baudrillards concept of  hyper reality and how the real world is created on expectations and how people want it to be rather than how it actually is. Nikon is merely projecting aspirational lifestyles out to its viewers that they will apparently gain with the purchase of the camera. This misleading advertising techniques is used also with Smirnoff and Emmirate Airlines; this could also be considered  simularcra because the companies aim to sell 'unique' experiences to the audience yet if everyone gets the same experience with the camera then this cannot be possible.

 

With the constant availability of the Internet, reality and representation are frequently blurred and transgressed all the time. The invention of Google glasses means that people are living in a hyper real world from day to day  thereby causing the real world to be indistinguishable from fictional lifestyles.

'Media is communication' Discuss the ways that you have used media language to create meanings in one of your media products.

The product I have chosen to analyse is my music magazine which is titled 'Replay' and belongs to the genre of hip hop. The intended audience (teenage girls aged between 15-24) would expect certain attributes and conventions when reading this type of text regarding colours, fonts and images. The connotations connected to my magazine title 'Replay' hint at the idea of reading it over and over again which suggest that the reader won't get bored of the content. For my colour palette, I focused on the colour green as it connotes the idea of something 'fresh' and 'new'. The mast-head uses this green alongside a bold, graffiti-style font against a black background to reflect the rebellious nature of my magazine.

For the main image, I have used a striking head shot of my female artist. It attracted my target audience because she holds eye contact with the camera lens and appears to address the audience.  John Fiske suggests that 'denotation is what is photographed, connotation is how it is photographed' I have demonstrated this theory in my photo as it denotes a young girl tyring to make it in the music industry however, her bold facial expression and street-style costume connote rebellion and passion.

The barcode, price and issue number are all typical conventions that are expected of all magazines, despite their genre. I have ensures that I included them in my magazine, putting the barcode and the issue number small in the corner as they are not the main focus of the magazine, they are simply standard requirements. The layout I have used attracts the reader as I have focused on the rule of thirds; thereby making it easy to look at and read. The main star is the focal point of the gold spiral, she is what sells the magazine.

The artist is styled with basic make-up. I wanted to reflect the concept of simplicity and how you don't have to look at certain, conventional way in order to enjoy a certain type of music. The message portrayed by my artist makes her admiral to my target market and perceived potentially as a role model. Despite the natural make-up, her hair styling is more extreme. A high side-ponytail style connotes her rebellion as this image alludes to hip hop star Lady Sovereign. In reference to Stuart Hall's reception theory, the preferred reading of the main image is that the artist is aspirational however an opposed reading could be that my artist is 'fake' and doesn't conform to expectations that the audience want to see.

The cover-lines of my magazine are written in capital letters in a bold font to appeal to the audience. I have mentioned names of well-noted hip hop stars and street dance crews that would be of interest to my target audience. These are also needed considering my cover star is supposedly relatively unknown therefore I have used other stars to help sell my magazine. Capital letters are more attention grabbing than lower-case as they are more demanding.

Overall, I have used media language to create several meanings in my music magazine. I ensured I used a colour palette with positive connotations and mise-en-scene to reflect the personality of the main star. It is important to conform to expectations of media language in order to appeal to the audience, if a media product is too different and strays too far from conventions, then it will only address a very niche market.

"Representation in media texts are often simplistic and reinforce dominant ideologies so that audiences can make sense of them". Evaluate the ways that you have used/challenged simplistic representations in one of the media products you have produced.

In the media products I have produced, I have both used and challenged representations. In my music video, the main character was an aspirational, relatable female figure. It was important that she was depicted as aspirational as I wanted my target audience of teenage girls to view her as a role model and take hope from the video after the relationship break-up narrative. I wanted to make her relatable and stereotypical as I felt that it would then make the narrative easier to relate to and sympathise with; if I had formed a complicated character, then the audience may have lost interest and not connected with her in the way I wanted them to. In creating these qualities in my music video, I am conforming to simplistic representations.

It was important that the correct connotations were carried by my character. I wanted her to be portrayed as innocent and vulnerable therefore, to achieve this, I ensured that her costume always consisted of natural, simplistic colours. As well as this, the location and mise-en-scene she was surrounded by also consisted of the same colour scheme in order to avoid distraction or mis-interpretation of meanings. This demure look ensured that my female character didn't conform to the male gaze as this is not the image that I wished to convey; I wanted her to appear innocent and potentially as a victim to the narrative.

Her character develops throughout the video, an establishing shot doesn't give much away, allowing the audience to make their own judgements. The fact that she takes up the majority of camera shots allows the audience to form a more broad opinion of her as the video progresses, the constant focus on star image means that the audience feel as if they get to know the character. Gaundlett says that 'Identities are constructed' linking to the idea that gradual construction breaks up and simplifies representation.

The male character in my video appears desirable and stylish however he is not given much camera time therefore the audience don't really get to know him and aren't able to relate to him. He is not presented in much detail, thereby making him a simplistic character representing 'any man'. The condensed narrative doesn't give him an opportunity of voice therefore the audience view him as the 'villain' in the story. Having the male role as a villain and the female role as the victim conforms to representations in media texts.

Stereotypes are used to enhance realism, however, Martin Marker comments on the idea that "stereotypes are condemned for misrepresenting the 'real world'". This could link to Baudrillard's theory of hyper-reality and how people are unable to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality. People expect certain attributes from characters, despite the fact that they are not always realistic. In the case of my music video, it is expected that the girl is depicted as weak and vulnerable in comparison to the male character.In conforming to expectations, I am using simplistic representations of media texts.

"Postmodern media manipulates time and space" To what extent does this defination apply to texts you have studied?

Postmodern media is set in the future, a time which does not exist until after it happens therefore this in itself is manipulating concepts of time.

Inception is a film which manipulates time and space to create something postmodern. The film explores the ideas of dreams and dreams within dreams; thereby creating a seemingly complex narrative which may at first be difficult to comprehend. The song 'Je ne regrette rien' is played throughout the film at different speeds, indicating how many layers into the dream the characters are, the slower the music, the deeper into the dream they are. When Ariadn is put into a dream state, she manipulates space by pulling up a section of the town and resting it above the ground they are on, forming a sky-less world where gravitational expectations are challenged; they are able to walking up the vertical road effortlessly. These manipulations of time and space allow the film to conform to Baudrillard's theory of hyper reality. This inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality is shown by the characters need for a totem; an object which allows them to recognise whether they are in the real world or a dream state. However even the audience loses track of what is the real world and what isn't; the continuously spinning totem at the end of the film leaves doubt in the viewer's mind about whether the characters made it back into reality or if they are still stuck inside a layer of the dream.

Scott Pilgrim Versus The World also manipulates time and space. This is most apparent in the fighting scenes where often the sequence is slowed down allowing the audience to see punches being thrown and 'points' being scored. The points appearing on screen infer that the characters are inside a video game and not living in reality, this is further supported by items such as the 'pee bar' appearing and Scott receiving an 'extra life', both things we'd expect from a video game. Julia Kristeva states that intertextual references 'shape meanings of new texts. This is true in this film as it implies that Scott's life is a game and that he isn't living in the real world. Many sound effects from the well-known video game 'Zelda' are included throughout and the introductory Universal logo uses arcade style music playing over the top; hinting from the very start that the film is set inside a video game.

When being introduced to the characters in Scott Pilgrim, a small profile appears next to their heads, replicating a video game where you choose the character you wish to play with. I could also be alluding to 'Fight Club' in which the main character looks around his flat and next to each item, an ikea-style fact-file pops up. Both of these are looking at hyper-reality and the manipulation of time and space; it demonstrates the idea of the dream world interfering with the real world and being unable to distinguish the two.

Many postmodern texts do manipulate time and space as postmodernism looks at breaking conventions. Virtual worlds and video games alongside augmented reality are traits of postmodern media which he audiences find intriguing. Changing concepts of time and space create enigmatic narratives which challenge viewers to solve.

Define Post Modern Media With Examples

Postmodern media is the idea that anything can interpreted and valued equally; nothing can be judged as negative since anything can be art. Kirby Fergusson comments that 'everything is a remix' and argues that originality is impossible and that creativity relies on the ability to copy, transform and combine. This is evident  in Quentin Tarentino's film 'Inglourious Basterds' in the soldier line up scene as it is identical to a scene in ‘The Dirty Dozen’ where the soldiers are being recruited to attack; they are stood in the same formation and location. This demonstrates how the film takes scenes and then changes them slightly but not so much that the audience doesn't recognise the original source, and then integrates them into the new film; thereby following Furguson's suggested rule of 'copy, transform and combine'

Postmodern media often takes copy, transform and combine too far and end up supporting Jameson's theory of depthlessness. For example, the film ‘Apocalypse Now’ uses the music ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ to criticise US foreign policy, using the music to carry across racist connotations. British Gas however, have created an advert that uses flying service vans, (perhaps replicating the helicopters in ‘Apocalypse Now’) and have the ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ music playing over the top; this music has been put so out of context that it has ended up carrying no racist implications across at all, British Gas have simply created an entertaining advert using a piece of music that has lost its original meaning.

Pastiche and Homage are used in postmodern media. Pastiche links with the idea of parody and how the original source is mocked and become humorous. This can be seen in 'Hobo With A Shot Gun' where it attempts to replicate gruesome death such as decapitating a man by attaching his head to a car, however the film tries too hard to evoke emotion that it creates bathos and the audience cannot take it seriously.The film in itself is based on a trailer for a film that never existed; it was designed to be purposely bad to be good but then ended up just being bad. The sole aim of the main character in the film is to save up to buy a lawn-mover, this completely pointless life aspiration reflects the pointlessness of the film as a whole; again linking back to Jameson's theory of depthlessness. Opposing this, there is Pastiche where a film is respectful when copying another. For example in 'Inglourious Basterds', the audience feel the pathos aimed at them and they sympathise with the characters.

 However, many people criticise companies for advertising their products using simulacra; creating copies of copies of copies of something that never existed in the first place and making people aspire to a lifestyle which doesn't exist. For example the Nikon S8000 advert aims to 'remind' people about their unique experiences however, the experiences shown do not exist, the company is merely projecting aspirational life events that the audience may want and consequently, will ‘apparently’ experience with the purchase of this camera.

Postmodern media is constantly in production. So many films take ideas from other films and manipulate them to make the audience think they are watching something new therefore we are perhaps watching postmodern texts without even realising. Due to technical advances, we are able to view these texts on TV or online, 24 hours a day.

Genre Essay

Analyse one of your coursework productions in relation to genre.

 Genre is a pattern, form or style that defines a text. A text will follow conventions within a genre in order to satisfy an audience. Our video was based on the country/pop genre to which we formed a conventional narrative to meet audience expectation. Richard Dyer suggests that genres are 'pleasurable because they offer escapist fantasies into fiction worlds that remove the boredom and pressures of reality'.  Our video meets the ideas put forward in this quote as the easy-to-watch video gives the opportunity to be entertained. We aimed to target an audience of girls aged between 13-23 as we felt the themes raised in our narrative would be most relatable to their lives when relationships play a big apart in their lives.

Typically, our genre has a relationship-based narrative; this inspired us when creating our storyboard as we had a basic understanding of audience requirement and what they want from a narrative video. The country/pop genre also focuses on star image with heavy reliance on close-up shots; we ensured that at least 90% of our shots contained our main star and included a range of close-ups. In order to present our star in a positive way, we used costume colours that connoted innocence; we allowed the audience to see this by using mid-shots. When carrying out our research and planning, we found that having the correct location and mise-en-scene is what makes or breaks a video. In finding this, we carefully planned where to film and what props needed to be in or out of the shot. We chose locations containing natural, simplistic colours to reflect the main character and also to promote her aspirational, carefree lifestyle.

Having the star singing all the way through seemed a major convention that needed to be followed in the country/pop genre. In order to meet this, we ensured the girl was on camera singing the majority of the lyrics; with the obvious exception of the instrumental. We chose to have the girl making eye-contact with the camera through most of the video since this demands audience attention and makes the viewer feel more involved and able to relate to her situation.

 Generically, videos in our genre promote a strong image of the female artist therefore, through the use of colours to connote innocence with mise-en-scene and costume, we have presented her as a role model for our target audience. We didn’t conform to Laura Mulvey's theory of The Male Gaze as we didn't feel this was appropriate for the message we were trying to convey. To avoid the male gaze, we used clothing that didn't connote sexuality and did not use camera angles that encouraged the audience to look anywhere but her face.

 It is important that our video offered the audience similar expectations of this genre because audiences feel more secure when surrounded by familiarity. Neale comments that 'Pleasure is derived through repetition and difference' which infers that audiences like knowing what to expect with repetition but, at the same time, appreciate the surprise experienced through difference. It could be said that a video must meet one of the requirements put forth in the Uses and Gratifications model in order for the audience to be satisfied. In this case, our video entertains and gives a sense of identity through the use of an admiral role model as the main star.

 Andrew Goodwin and his theory of voyeurism can be applied to our product. At several stages in the video, the girl is being looked at by the audience without her knowledge. For example when she is looking at the rose before singing and in the instrumental, when she is tearing up the letter during the instrumental and when she is looking at herself in the mirror after the instrumental. As well as this, Goodwin's theory that there is a link between the lyrics and the visuals can be applied to our products. The visuals illustrate our lyrics throughout the entire narrative to help keep a grasp on understanding the events that take place.

Overall, careful planning and consideration was carried out in order to make sure that our video met genre expectations. Our research and planning allowed us to learn and understand the generic conventions that we could potentially use and our storyboard permitted us to put our ideas together. Without a clear structured genre, it would be difficult to find an audience, at least with following the conventions of an existing genre, your audience already exists and there are guaranteed views.

Discuss why some people are not convinced by the idea of postmodern media.

Discuss why some people are not convinced by the idea of postmodern media.

Postmodernism cannot easily be defined due to the fact its existence is, in theory, impossible; media cannot be 'after' modern because modern is now; anything after now is the future and the future remains un-invented and doesn't exist until it happens. In effect, postmodernism is simply a rejection of modernism.

Kirby Furguson argues that 'everything is a remix', he believes that everything is connected, that 'originality' is impossible and that creativity relies on the ability to copy, transform and combine. The ideas put forward by Furguson could be relatable to Quentin Tarrentino's film 'Inglourious Basterds' as this continually makes intertextual references to other films; for example, the establishing shot in the first scene replicates that of ‘The Sound of Music’; likewise the soldier line up scene later on is identical to the scene in ‘The Dirty Dozen’ where the soldiers are being recruited to attack. The film takes scenes, changes them slightly but not so much that the audience doesn't recognise the original source, and then integrates them into the new film; thereby following Furguson's suggested rule of 'copy, transform and combine'. His theory parallels Bentley's quote that creativity is 'The rearranging of the old and the making of the new', nothing can be original, it’s about how you transform old ideas and make people enjoy watching something they've already seen.

However, Jameson and his criticism of postmodernism comments on the idea that 'It is vacuous and trapped in circular references' thereby inferring that he is not convinced by the ideas presented by postmodernism. He believes that everyone should follow the conventions of their products rather than break up core structures and he thinks that the world has become too hyper-real; people can no longer distinguish what is reality from what is a simulation of reality. For example, the television series 'The Only Way Is Essex' is based on what people perceive Essex and its inhabitants to be like. In reality, this is not the lifestyle everyone in Essex lives, the series just looks at the expected lifestyle based on stereotypes. Jameson also picks up on the fact that postmodernism just takes what people have already seen and re-shows them it in a new context and, most of the time, the audience don't even realise; he is not convinced that re-using old material is being creative and original.

Jameson also focuses on ‘deathlessness’ and the idea that sometimes trying to give something too much depth and layers of meaning can result in it become depthless and carrying no meaning at all. An example of this can be seen in the film ‘Apocalypse Now’ and the British Gas advert. ‘Apocalypse now uses the music ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ to criticise US foreign policy, using the music and carrying across the racist connotations. British Gas however, use flying service vans, (perhaps replicating the helicopters in ‘Apocalypse Now’) and have the ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ music playing over the top, and end up carrying no racist implications across at all, they have simply created an entertaining advert using a piece of music so out of context that it has lost its original meaning.

Some postmodern media texts challenge traditional text-reader relations and the concept of representation through the use of parody. This is evident in 'Hobo With A Shot Gun' where within the first few scenes from opening, one of the actors is decapitated by a chain tied to a car however, the light-hearted nature in which this is carried out creates pastiche; this forms the concept of bathos to the audience where the narrative is too exaggerated that intended sympathetic aspects become humorous. The film in itself is based on a trailer for a film that never existed; it was designed to be purposely bad to be good but then ended up just being bad. The sole aim of the main character in the film is to save up to buy a lawn-mover, this completely pointless life aspiration reflects the pointlessness of the film as a whole; replicating the opinion some people have of postmodernism and showing why some people aren't convinced by postmodernism.

Media audiences and industries operate differently in a postmodern world. With the easy access of Facebook and Twitter, it is easier than ever to keep in contact with friends and family. Media industries are reliant on social networking sites for their audiences to view, comment and share their products as it is the fastest and most efficient way to generate good word-of-mouth. The majority of media audiences now have Internet access twenty four hours a day, seven days a week; this encourages actions such as online shopping where mass supplied goods can be delivered to your door in a matter of hours. Goods can be shipped and interchanged from all around the world thanks to globalisation. However, many people criticise companies for advertising their products using simulacra; creating copies of copies of copies of something that never existed in the first place and making people aspire to a lifestyle which doesn't exist. For example the Nikon S8000 advert aims to 'remind' people about their unique experiences however, the experiences shown do not exist, the company is merely projecting aspirational life events that the audience may want and consequently, will ‘apparently’ experience with the purchase of this camera.

This false sense of advertising alongside the frequent pastiche film narratives could be why some people are not convinced by the idea of postmodern media.

Applying audience theories to your product

Me and my partner, Charlotte, created a music video to Taylor Swift's song 'Forever and Always'. Our target audience was girls aged between 13-21 as we felt the themes and issues we were highlighting in our video, would be relatable for them. For example, we have used an 18 year old female to play the role of the main star; her look would potentially be idolised by the younger target audience and seen as admiral to the higher end of our audience.
The uses and gratifications model is a relevant theory for our video. The area of identification is relevant in that young girls can find aspects of their own personalities in the main character and potentially view her as a role model in how to deal with broken relationships since she acts as a sign of hope; an area we highlighted with the lit candle at the end of our video. The area of diversion can also be applied; our video provides the opportunity to temporarily escape into a different lifestyle and be entertained; therefore distracting us from worries and problems surrounding our own lives. Our audience is not passive, but active and feel sympathetic towards the relationship break up and feel pathos towards the girl. We have conveyed the female character as innocent and vulnerable which heightens the sense of sympathy from the audience.

Morley's theory of an active audience can be applied to our video. The audience view the text and then formulate an opinion based on what they see. A preferred reading of our text could be that the themes we raise are relatable and the audience share the reaction of the break up with the main star. An oppositional reading could be that our narrative is unrealistic and exaggerated and the audience think that we have created a hyper-real situation. A negotiated reading of our text could be that the audience recognise the break up as sad, however they cannot relate to it and therefore don't connect with the narrative on an emotional level.

Our audience feedback was extremely useful as it allowed us to collect feedback from our target audience and see their initial response to what we had produced. A lot of issues that arose from our first draft video were based around problems with mise-en-scene and camera angles therefore we were able to go back and correct these to improve the experience for our target audience.

Overall, I feel that our product appealed to our target audience because we used a narrative that is relatable and perhaps a major issue within the age bracket we aimed to target. The simplicity of the narrative makes it easy to watch and understand, again linking to the diversion section of the uses and gratifications model, making it entertaining to watch.

Essay

How did the conventions of real media texts inspire you to use new media technology to create the style of product you achieved?

Over my two years studying at AS and A2, I made a variety of products. My magazine, music video and digipak being the main projects where I used new media technologies. I was faced with new software such as Photoshop, Final Cut Pro and using new hardware such as the Apple Mac computers and Canon video cameras.

At AS, I created a music magazine. I used the pre-production stage to carry out research and planning to gain a better understanding of the conventions for this product. I learnt that generically, the cover had to have a masthead, a strapline and a close up image of the star. Using new hardware such as my FinePix S6500, I was able to take high quality pictures to my magazine and take a clear close up photograph for the cover image. The close up connoted that star image is important to the music genre I was representing. I could then use software such as Photoshop to create my masthead and strap line. Conventionally, the masthead is positioned at the top of the cover so I decided to follow this convention however; I used Dafont to find a striking font to support my cover image and make my magazine stand out.

At A2, I created a music video in the country/pop genre. After carrying out research in pre-production, I found that 90% of shots needed to contain the star with a wide majority being mid-shots and close ups. I took this advice on board and, when filming with the Canon video camera, ensured that I framed the star in a variety of close ups. I learnt also that my genre used zooms in videos therefore, for the mid-shots, I was able to use the zoom tool in Final Cut Pro to add a steady zoom; this allowed me to create the style and look that I was aiming for.

I also created a digipak at A2, which supported my music video. To make this, I primarily used Photoshop. After researching into the conventions, I found that I needed to use a head shot for the cover image. I used my FinePix S6500 camera to take a selection of photos that we could later choose from and even added some effects such as black and white to some of them. I decided to use a black and white image for my digipak cover; this develops conventions in my genre and helps my product to stand out from others that are similar. Photoshop allowed me to use the magnetic lasso tool to cut around my image and achieve a professional-looking product.

For all of my products, I looked at the conventions and planned how I could use them to create a new product. I was inspired by the quote ‘The making of the new and the rearranging of the old’ (Bentley 1997) as this is what I have done across all three projects talked about above. For my music video, it was about taking the idea of the conventional relationship break-up narrative and storyboarding shots and camera angles that would convey my narrative convincingly and make it look completely new. My research taught me that video in our genre tended only to use straight cuts for transition from shot to shot; we chose to follow this convention and ensure we only used straight cuts when editing on Final Cut Pro.

For my narrative, I used Todorov’s theory. The equilibrium was the couple being happy followed by the dis-equilibrium being the fight and break up. Finally, normality is restored with a new equilibrium where the girl is happy being on her own without the boy. All narratives must follow a certain pattern in order for them to make sense to the audience. I used a long shot when filming to show the girl and boy when they are arguing to clearly highlight the dispute so that the audience don’t lose a grasp on understanding my narrative. I used Final Cut Pro to arrange the shots in the narrative into the correct order.

Essay

Describe how you developed your skills in the use of digital technology for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to your creative decision making. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time.

I have developed my skills massively through my use of digital technology in media production from AS through to A2. The preliminary activity in AS required me to use photoshop; my experience with this software was extremely limited and it became a time-consuming process. I learnt the basics through practise and became familiar with tools such as the magic wand and the magnetic lasso; the more experienced I became, the more confident I was to be more creative with my ideas. Likewise, the preliminary activity at A2 was to create a music video with the class. I had no experience at all with storyboarding or filming therefore this task gave me time to practise and develop these skills. I learnt about the importance of framing and lighting in shots; when I understood the basics, I found my ideas becoming more creative.

Photoshop was the main piece of digital technology that I used during my AS course, I was able to take the skills I gained during this time and carry them over to A2 and use them for creating my ancillary products. With a much broader understanding, I learnt how to use more complex tools such as colour matching and cloning. My creative decision making was enhanced because I knew the importance of layouts after following layout patterns from my cover, contents and double page spread for my AS music magazine, and knew about using the rule of thirds for my digipak cover and photographs.

Photography played a large part in both AS and A2. My limited knowledge and experience at AS meant that not all my photos were to the best quality and it took a lot of trial and error to achieve the desired shot. Mary Lou Cook quotes that “Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun." In a way this shows that trial and error is helpful, and that practise makes perfect. Making mistakes allowed my skills to develop and my creativity improved as I was able to experiment with angles and lighting to learn what worked best. At A2, I had access to a FinePix S6300 camera which gave my high-quality images. The piece of technology contributed to my creative decision making as I could use the effects on the camera settings to take black and white images. Furthering this, I used the Internet to edit my photos on PicMonkey to achieve a professional-looking image to use on my ancillary products. Being able to edit my photos gave me much more variety and allowed me to expand my ideas and be more creative.

Final Cut Pro is the software I used to edit my music video. I had gained a small amount of experience on this after creating an animatic of my storyboard at the start of A2 however putting together my video footage was a slow process. After completing my draft video, I had become more time efficient; this allowed me to be more creative in my second draft as I could use tools on the software, such as adding pans and zooms to shots, which let my creativity expand. For the preliminary video, I used Adobe Premiere Elements. This is a very basic editing program which is quite limiting so, I made the decision to switch to the Mac computers and use Final Cut Pro as an alternative as, in doing this, I could be more inventive and creative with my footage.

I relied heavily on Blogger over both years of my A Level. I used it to record all of my research, planning and progress as I went along. At AS, Blogger was a new experience for me as I had not used it prior to this therefore I used basic presentation programs such as Scribd and Slideshare to display my work. At A2, I had developed an awareness of new programs such as Animoto and Xtranormal which gave me the opportunity to be more creative in showing my work on my Blog. 

The main thing I learnt about digital technology over AS and A2 is that the more I used it, the more experience I gained and consequently, the more creative I could be. My skills in Photoshop are what have developed the most; I can see that my imagination and creativity has grown from the magazine preliminary task back at the start of AS, to my ancillary products at the end of A2.